Politics Indiana

V15 N17 Thursday Dec. 4, 2008 New urgency on WMD front Roemer, Lugar renew warnings on terror in the homeland; CIA speculation

By BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS - “The de- struction of an American city in our lifetime ....” Those were the words echoing multilayer defens- Former Indiana from Sen. Dick Lugar’s presidential campaign of 1995-96. A es. Our margin of congressman dozen years later, Americans distracted by collapses on Wall safety is shrinking, Tim Roemer Street and in Detroit awoke on Tuesday to similar warnings, not growing.” (far left) with this time from “World At Risk: The Report of the Commis- The report Obama at sion on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism.” describes agents Wayne HS last It predicts a WMD attack on America within five of terror staking April. Roemer years. out a pathogen lab is a potential The report states, “The intent of this report is at Georgia State CIA director neither to frighten nor reassure the American people about University. “They candidate. the current state of terrorism and weapons of mass de- were agents on a (HPI Photo) struction. It is to underscore that the U.S. government has mission and they yet to fully adapt to these circumstances and to convey the See Page 3 sobering reality that the risks are growing faster than our Cap slide in Muncie By BRIAN A. HOWEY MUNCIE - It started snowing lightly in Middletown USA late Monday afternoon. Six hours later, 911 dispatch- ers reported more than 50 traffic accidents on unsalted streets. Just a normal Hoosier “Let’s look at the millions of winter day? No. It could be- come a Michael Bilandic moment jobs lost if we lose the auto with repercussions going all the way to the Indiana Statehouse. industry.” Bilandic was the 49th mayor of Chicago, chosen to replace the - UAW Chief Ron Gettelfinger late Mayor Richard J. Daley in December 1976. He would have won a term of his own except that a blizzard shut the city HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 2 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

down and Bilandic lost to Jane Byrne mayor fully responsible. I could have Howey Politics in the Democratic primary in the been killed.” Indiana spring of 1977. Could have been killed. Now there are all sorts of Ouch. is a nonpartisan news- distinctions between Bilandic and Muncie has become the poster letter based in Indianapolis Muncie Mayor Sharon McShurley, city for HB1001 reaction and this is be- who took office (albeit by a har- fore the full array of caps really come and published by NewsLink rowingly thin plurality) in January. into play. This is the just the ramp up. Since then, McShurley thwarted a The years 2009 and 2010 are going Inc. It was founded in bid to have the election overturned, to create other revenue dilemmas for 1994 in Fort Wayne. watched the Indiana General Assem- cities. Michigan City has cut $6 million bly pass the 1-2-3 property tax caps out of its budget and New Albany cut with HB1001 (which tamped down a $1.5 million and fire and police chiefs Brian A. Howey, publisher property tax rebellion simmering in have no overtime budgets. Lake County Mark Schoeff Jr., her city), appeared Washington writer with Gov. Mitch Daniels at the Indiana Jack E. Howey, editor Republican Conven- Beverly Phillips, associate tion, and by this fall editor and subscription declared a “financial management emergency” (the first time we’ve ever Subscriptions: heard of one). Sev- $350 annually HPI via e-mail; eral weeks ago, the $550 annually HPI & HPI Daily McShurley administra- tion announced that Wire. it would only plow the Call 317-627-6746 streets during busi- ness hours Monday through Friday. Howey Politics Indiana Candor is 6255 North Evanston always good public Indianapolis, IN 46220 policy. If the streets aren’t going to be Gov. Daniels shakes hands with Muncie Mayor Sharon plowed or salted, the Contact Us: McShurley right after his Indiana Republican Convention ac- public needs to know. ceptance speech last June. (HPI Photo by Brian A. Howey) www.howeypolitics.com But in doing so, it also [email protected] opens up an array of Main Office: 317-202-0210. reactions. slashed 112 jobs and $15 million. May- For instance, Muncie Police ors in South Bend and LaPorte are do- Howey’s Mobile: 317-506-0883. told the Star Press that many of the ing what Gov. Daniels, Speaker Bauer Indianapolis Fax: 317-254-0535. Monday accidents were caused by and President Long want them to do: Washington: 202-256-5822. motorists driving too fast, following pass Local Option Income Taxes to fill Business Office: 317-631-9450. too close, etc. And there was the any budgetary shortfalls. political reaction and some real bad While Mayor McShurley ©2008, Howey Politics press. Many blamed Mayor McShur- won’t be facing the ballot box for an- Indiana. All rights reserved. ley. Karla Lance told the Star Press, other three years, the political conse- Photocopying, Internet forwarding, that she called the mayor’s office quences will play out at the Statehouse faxing or reproducing in any form, to leave McShurley a message that where Daniels, Long and House Minor- admittedly “wasn’t very nice.” ity Leader will push for in whole or part, is a violation of “I told them to thank the the second vote creating a 2010 ref- federal law without permission from mayor for not salting the roads and erendum on the caps. Bauer wants to the publisher. to tell her now I don’t have a car,” wait until 2010. Daniels put a premium Lance said. “It’s wrecked. I hold the on “certainty” in the tax system and HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 3 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

said, “Every taxpayer ought to worry about a double cross,” LaPorte and South Bend actively heeding the advice of he said of future governors and legislators who might fall Daniels, Bauer and Long in seeking income taxes to replace back into pre-cap era. property taxes. “That list is getting longer,” Simmons said. Daniels scoffed at the notion Senate Minor- IACT is compiling statistics on how much cities and ity Leader Vi Simpson stressed last month, saying that towns have sliced from their budgets and will release its the original Legislative Services Agency estimates went “State of the Cities and Towns” in early January. only two years out and that more information would be Taxpayers will be balancing their lower prop- needed. “It’s not a question of information,” Daniels said erty tax bills (and for many mortgage payments) with the at his presser in Mount Comfort on Tuesday. In his mind, services they receive. In Gary, it’s a question as to whether it’s about government living within a budget as opposed to the 13 firefighters recently laid off are really needed. The determining a budget and then sending the bill to taxpay- city’s pitch for monetary help to the state’s Distressed Unit ers. Appeals Board won’t be subtle, Gary Mayor Rudy Clay But Jennifer Simmons of the Association of Indi- told the Times of Northwest Indiana. “Gary has to be one ana Cities and Towns says her organization favors delaying of the most distressed cities in America,” Clay said. “We the cap vote until 2010. “We want to see what cuts have already have cut $36.5 million in the last three years. We been made and see projected cuts for 2010,” she said. have laid off more than 200 people. We have police and Another glaring problem is that while counties can pass Lo- fire on layoff. Our employees are working five days but only cal Option Income Taxes, cities can’t. South Bend must go getting paid for four. I’m working for seven and getting through the St. Joseph County Council on Dec. 15 to pass paid for four.” The mayor said the city will ask the board by its requested 1.25 percent option. Monday’s deadline to modify $47 million in state-mandated Simmons says there are scenarios where mayors property tax cuts that - if unchanged - will gut the city’s and city councils back a LOIT, but a county council - which budget by 58 percent in two years. tend to be very conservative and Republican - may balk. In South Bend, it’s whether it needs 1,200 city em- “Local officials want to see homeowners get property tax ployees, more than any other second class city in the state. cuts. However, the shift comes at a cost. We’re seeing that In Muncie, it could be how slick the streets get and this year. In 2009 there is going to be more across the whether there’s the political will to raise corresponding op- board pain, and even deeper cuts in services by 2010.” tion income taxes to keep the streets plowed. v She said that there is a short list of cities like

WMD came not at night, which might have looked suspi- cious, but in broad daylight.” It continues, “Hiding in plain sight on a city street in Atlanta, they walked the perimeter of one of America’s five biological laboratories where sci- entists worked on the world’s most deadly patho- gens. They had come to this lab at Georgia State University in 2008 as part of their assignment to quietly case facilities designated as Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) labs, the highest level of biological con- tainment, required for work with the most danger- ous viruses. They were looking for even the slight- est security vulnerability - anything that might give an edge to terrorists seeking to steal small quanti- ties of Ebola virus or other lethal disease agents for Sen. Lugar and Sam Nunn meet with Russians at the Luch Scientific Produc- which there are no treatments, no known cures.” tion Facility in August 2007. (HPI Photo by Brian A. Howey) Talking to Howey Politics Indiana on Tuesday, WMD Commission member Tim Roemer member, says there is a “religious obligation to do this.” said, “Osama bin Laden has mandated obtaining a nuclear Roemer appears to be on a short list for director of weapon and using it against the United States.” Roemer, the Central Intelligence Agency, according to the New York the former Indiana congressman and 9/11 Commission Times. Also listed are deputy director Stephen R. Kappes, HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 4 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

Sen. Lugar and then-U.S. Ambassador to Russia William Burns (far left) meeting with Luch officials in Podolsk, Russia where HEU had been stolen in 1998. Nunn-Lugar Act funds have added multiple layers of safeguards to the facility. (HPI Photo by Brian A. Howey)

U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel and former CIA clandestine services gate arm that would swing across the roadway.” chief Jack Devine. The Washington Post is reporting that The report also tells of several other incidents U.S. Rep. Jane Harmon, retired Navy Adm. Dennis C. Blair where labs or nuclear facility breaches have taken place, and former deputy defense secretary John Hamre as other such as the Luch Scientific Production facility in Podolsk, potential intelligence candidates. Russia, a scene Howey Politics Indiana covered with Asked by HPI if he is being vetted by President- Lugar and Nuclear Threat Initiative Chairman Sam Nunn elect Obama’s transition team for the cabinet, Roemer in August 2007. In 1998, a worker there tried to sell 18.5 declined to comment, citing the sensitivity of the situation. kilograms of highly enriched uranium on the black market Roemer served six terms in the 2nd CD and drafted the before Russian security agents arrested him. legislation creating the 9/11 Commission. He then served The report describes what a nuclear terror attack as a member with former Hoosier congressman Lee Ham- might look like in Chicago: “A nuclear bomb explodes at ilton. As a congressman, Roemer also led efforts to reform Sears Tower. Everything from Navy Pier to the Eisenhower U.S. intelligence capabilities. Expressway disappears. The United Center and Grant Park On Sept. 20, Roemer and fellow WMD Commis- are destroyed. A firestorm sweeps from the White Sox’s sioners, former U.S. Sens. Jim Talent and Bob Graham, U.S. Cellular Field on the South Side to the Cubs’ Wrigley were on their way to Islamabad when “three hours out” Field on the North Side.” Blackberries and cell phones began ringing simultaneously: Or Washington: “A nuclear bomb at the Smith- The Islamabad Marriott had been devastated by a bomb. sonian Institution would destroy everything from the White The commissioners were to have checked into the hotel. House to the Capitol lawn. The Supreme Court would be Roemer calls it a “coincidence” but a sobering one. “There’s rubble. The Pentagon, across the Potomac River, would be a growing threat. It will happen in New York City, London, engulfed in flames.” Islamabad ....” At least one prominent Indiana congressional The biological portion of the report explains, staffer has told HPI in recent years that such an attack on “These individuals discovered that in a number of places, Washington is a real possibility. “It’s going to come. I just the lab was unprotected by barriers and that outsiders hope I’m not in Washington when it does,” the staffer said. could walk right up to the building housing these deadly Roemer, who briefed President Bush and Vice pathogens. Around back, they watched and took notes as President Elect Joe Biden on Wednesday, said the report is a pedestrian simply strolled into the building through an aimed at spurring action from the White House to Con- unguarded loading dock. On another day, the same people gress to the citizenry. It does not advocate appointing a went to San Antonio to check out another BSL-4 lab, the WMD czar, but establishing a top tier seat on the National Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. They Security Council headed, perhaps, by Vice President Biden. discovered that the security camera covered only a portion It urges Congress to flex its oversight as “the 911 Commis- of the perimeter, and that the only barrier to vehicles was a sion urged them to do.” And it asks citizens to be diligent. HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 5 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

version of weapons-grade nuclear materi- als. In 2005, Lugar surveyed 85 ex- perts who predicted that the world would face a 29 percent chance of a nuclear at- tack and the prospect of four new nations being added to the nuclear weapons club in the next 10 years. Over the same pe- riod, the experts rated the risks of a major chemical or biological attack as greater than 30 percent, while the prospects of a dirty bomb attack were pegged at 40 percent. The good news in these dire scenarios is that Obama has repeatedly said he “gets it.” In an April 29 interview with Howey Politics Indiana, Obama said that WMD “will be a top priority. It will be something I care deeply, deeply about. We can defeat terrorists who are equipped conventionally. The devastation Tim Roemer makes an ardent appeal to pass the 911 Commission recommendations in they could do with weapons of mass de- Terre Haute, February 2006. (HPI Photo by Brian A. Howey) struction would be unimaginable and we have to make sure we are doing every- Somewhat ominously, Roemer says that “all roads thing we can do in that scenario.” lead to Pakistan,” which, in light of the Mumbai terrorist The reality is that Obama enters office with a criti- attack last weekend has placed both that country and India cal clock ticking, ticking, ticking ..... v on a virtual war footing. Lugar responded to the report by saying, “We must take every measure to address WMD threats.” The Obama’s team of rivals report urges the implementation of programs that Lugar has long advocated. “We must eliminate those conditions By BRIAN A. HOWEY that restrict or delay our ability to act,” he said. “The United INDIANAPOLIS - There was a moment during States has the technical expertise and diplomatic stand- one of the Democratic presidential debates when Barack ing to dramatically benefit international security. American Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards were asked leaders must ensure that we have the political will and whether they could guarantee a complete pull out from resources to implement programs devoted to these ends.” Iraq by the end of 2012. None of them took the bait even Lugar testified to the WMD Commission in July. as the Democratic left egged them on. This bit of news was His recommendations in the report include: a White House critical to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who told the coordinator for WMD nonproliferation programs; enhancing New York Times the U.S. partnership with Pakistan, such as the Biden-Lugar Magazine that it bill S. 3263; and increasing funding for the Nunn-Lugar was a virtual na- Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to confront biologi- tional epiphany. cal weapons. They got it. They In February 2005, Lugar requested an increase finally got it. of $100 millions for the 2006 budget. The Congress grant- While ed $80 million, dedicating resources to a nuclear fuel bank much of the po- and nuclear safeguards at the International Atomic Energy litical chatter out Agency. Modernizing that agency from “1970’s equipment” of Chicago these was part of the Lugar-Bayh Nuclear Safeguards and Supply days centers on Act of 2007. Lugar also advocated extending the START the “Team of Ri- Treaty, which is set to expire in 2009, and continuing the vals” concept as Nunn-Lugar work at the Luch facility to prevent theft or di- Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. President Elect (Google Photo) HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 6 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

Obama brings on former primary opponents Hillary Clinton - violent jihadist networks - will not allow us to remain at as secretary of state and Bill Richardson at commerce, it is peace. What has been called the ‘Long War’ is likely to the retention of Gates that may be the most critical. This be many years of persistent, engaged combat all around means continuity. the world in differing degrees of size and intensity. This That Obama has reached out to Clinton and generational campaign cannot be wished away or put on a Gates - both who supported the Iraq War, and Gates timetable. There are no exit strategies.” still believes the invasion was needed - is a testament to Gates then paraphrased the Bolshevik Leon Obama’s willingness to have multiple viewpoints at his Trotsky: “We may not be interested in the long war, but the fingertips. It was something Sen. Chuck Hagel had urged a long war is interested in us.” cloistered President George W. Bush to do as the U.S. sank Gordon M. Goldstein’s new book, “Lessons of Di- into the morass of the Iraq insurgency. Obama’s cabinet saster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam,” appears to be one of a free market of ideas. But Obama includes “tortured notes” that Bundy, a brilliant adviser to was quite emphatic: “I will be Presidents Kennedy and John- responsible for the vision that son, wrote to himself as he this team carries out. So as tried to come to grips with that Harry Truman said, the buck will catastrophic chapter in American stop with me.” history just before his death in In an April 21 speech 1996. “The doves were right” at the U.S. Military Academy was scribbled in the margin of an at West Point, Gates gave a old memo. In Goldstein’s book, fascinating history lesson, quot- he named chapters after Bundy’s ing Eisenhower and Marshall lessons: “Never Trust the Bu- mentor Gen. Fox Connor’s three reaucracy to Get It Right” and axioms: “Never go to war unless “Never Deploy Military Means in you have to. Never fight alone. Pursuit of Indeterminate Ends.” Never fight for long.” It’s in contrast to The first axiom fits President Bush’s interview with Obama’s opposition to the war ABC’s Charlie Gibson earlier this when he was just an Illinois week. “I think I was unprepared state senator back in 2002 with- for war,” Bush said. “In other out access to the intelligence words, I didn’t campaign and that U.S. senators had. The say, ‘Please vote for me, I’ll be second conflicts with the Bush able to handle an attack.’ In administration’s prosecution of other words, I didn’t anticipate the war where only the British war. One of the things about the mounted a sizeable contingent modern presidency is that the on the ground, unlike the Gulf unexpected will happen. A lot of War which had much greater people put their reputations on international support. the line and said the weapons Gates quoted Winston of mass destruction is a reason Churchill, who wrote in 1942, to remove Saddam Hussein. It “Let us learn our lessons. Never, wasn’t just people in my admin- never believe that any war will be smooth and easy, or that istration. A lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure in Washington, D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. Once the signal leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the is given, the statesman is no longer the master of policy same intelligence. I wish the intelligence had been differ- but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.” ent, I guess.” America, it seems had become drunk on the successes of When pressed by Gibson, Bush declined to “specu- Grenada, Panama and Serbia. late” on whether he would still have gone to war if he knew The third is the task at hand. “A draw down of Hussein didn’t have weapons of mass destruction, giving U.S. forces in Iraq is inevitable over time - the debate you credence to the notion that he had violated one of Fox hear in Washington is largely about pacing,” Gates told the Conner’s axioms. “That is a do-over that I can’t do,” Bush West Point cadets. “But the kind of enemy we face today said. Page 7 Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

Gates sized up the “conflicts of the today.” He said, “Afghanistan is widely viewed as a war of necessity - strik- ing back at the staging ground of the perpetrators of the September 11th attack. The Iraq campaign, while justified in my view, is seen differently by many people. Two weeks ago I testified, in front of the Congress on the Iraq War. I observed that we were attacked, at home in 2001, from Afghanistan. And we are at war in Afghanistan today, in no small measure, because we mistakenly turned our backs on Afghanistan after the Soviet troops left in the late 1980s.” This is when Osama bin Laden rose to his power that has exacted American lives in New York, Washington, Pennsyl- vania and Baghdad. Gates added, “We made a strategic mistake in Gov. Daniels briefs the press at Mount Comfort Airport on Tues- the endgame of that war. If we get the endgame wrong day hours after he and other governors met with President-Elect in Iraq, I told the Congress, the consequences will be far Obama. (HPI Photo by Brian A. Howey) worse.” Thus, as the Obama administration Daniels meets Obama takes shape, we have Hillary Clinton at state, By BRIAN A. HOWEY bearing a family name GREENFIELD - The two biggest change agents on respected around the the Hoosier political scene in 2008 finally met and shook world. Ditto with Rich- hands in Philadelphia at the National Governors Association ardson, who has many conference on Tuesday. “President-elect Obama ... meet successes dealing with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.” prickly situations on Daniels didn’t get any private face time with the the world stage. And Gates, who was brought in to bail out incoming president. He preferred to blend, despite his rock the ship of state from the hurricanes Bush, Rumsfeld and star status among Republican governors for withstanding Cheney never anticipated. a Democratic tide and winning re-election with 58 percent. Sen. Richard Lugar, appearing on ABC’s This Week, Perhaps envious, they know he heads one of only seven called Obama’s incoming national security team “excellent,” states with a budget surplus. And he was cited by two adding, “I think it will be a strong team. I would just say, other governors (who he declined to name) for his Major as an individual, I look forward to working with each one Moves program. of them. I hope and I’m certain Senator Kerry, who is our Daniels was duly impressed with the President- incoming (Senate Foreign Relatinos) chairman, feels the elect. “Very smart, very thoughtful,” Daniels said of Obama. same way. Bipartisan support of this team really is of the Particularly since Obama initiated the meeting with gov- essence right now.” ernors, most whom are constitutionally bound to balance Lugar added, “I would vote in favor of Sena- budgets and are experiencing exploding unemployment, tor Clinton, knowing what we have here on this program Medicaid costs and an array of budgetary constraints. today. I suspect, however, that I’m not alone in suggesting Obama told the governors, “Change is not going to that there will be questions raised, and probably legitimate come from Washington alone. It’s going to come from all questions.” of you. It will come from a White House and statehouses The next few months will offer fascinating discus- all across the country that are working together, and that’s sions at the White House where truths will be pursued the kind of partnership that I intend to forge as President and viable options will be employed as we pull out of Iraq of the United States. I hope that this is the beginning of sometime between now and 2011 (as mandated by the laying that foundation.” Iraqi Parliament). Gates said at West Point: “Truth to tell, Obama added, “If we’re listening to the governors, it’s a hard sell to say we must sustain the fight in Iraq right then the money that we spend is going to be well spent, now and continue to absorb the high financial and human and it means that it’s going to get working faster and the cost of the struggle, in order to avoid an even uglier fight people in your states are going to experience prosperity or even greater danger to our country in the future. But sooner.” we have Afghanistan to remind us that these are not just The fact that Obama has centered his stimulus hypothetical risks.” v package intended to create 2.5 million jobs on infrastruc- HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 8 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

ture is similar to what Gov. Daniels did with Major Moves. Daniels took a great deal of heat from Indiana Democrats Obama’s change over the Indiana Toll Road lease (which they call a “sale”) even though Obama patron Richard Daley of Chicago did By JACK COLWELL the same thing with the Skyway, and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed SOUTH BEND - Change. What does it mean? There Rendell tried to do in his state. Democratic criticism also are different uses of the word. “Hey, buddy, can you spare centered on the 75-year lease being made to “foreigners” some change?” We know the meaning there. “Change into and the fact that the consortium would be making big prof- something more appropriate, young lady, before you leave its within a short few years. this house.” Another meaning sometimes voiced by par- Daniels noted that the stimulus package which ents. could eventually cost half a trillion dollars is money coming But what of the change Barack Obama promised from the next generation of taxpayers. Washington, Daniels during the campaign? What did he said, is meeting the financial meltdown with a “printing mean? Now, he offers secretary of press.” state to Hillary Clinton, names a Without Major Moves, Indiana’s jobless rate would bunch of others with Clinton admin- likely be greater than the current 6.2 percent. Daniels istration experience to key posts, hailed Major Moves as the “jobs bill of a generation” in makes nice with Joe Lieberman, lis- 2006. tens to Defense officials and generals Daniels said that Obama “made it very clear” that and doesn’t even call for imprisoning at the heart of a stimulus package that will likely pass Sean Hannity. Congress on Jan. 20 is a plan “not to bail out states” but to So, some columnists, commenta- put people to work. “If they send us a check, we’ll cash it,” tors and liberal blogs rant and rail Daniels said, noting that even though his Major Moves pro- about President-elect Obama not gram has provided the state with a 10-year plan, additional providing the change promised by federal funds aimed at infrastructure could help finish I-69 the “yes, we can” candidate. to Evansville and begin a mass transit program. What next? They ponder whether he next will Daniels said he urged Obama and Congress not to say that water boarding is OK after all. He won’t, although tie the stimulus funds for states to the federal highway for- those bloggers wouldn’t mind an exception for quizzing mula that he says short-changes Indiana by returning only Dick Cheney. 92 cents on the dollar. “It’s grossly unfair.” He said he also The critics weren’t listening to what Obama, urged Obama to get the money to states without federal the candidate, said. He promised change, as in switching strings attached, perhaps in the form of grants. “There are from the policies of an unpopular present president that led land acquisition rules that are extremely time-consuming to economic meltdown, record deficits, depletion of military — width of rights of way, thickness of pavement, all sorts strength, loss of respect abroad and failure of the Cubs to of design standards. Sometimes they make sense, some- win the World Series. times they don’t. Let the states decide,” Daniels said. “If John McCain also promised change from paths of this is not a bailout but an economic growth plan, then let’s disaster. McCain preferred to use the word “maverick” in his take the shackles off.” claim to make things different in Washington. Asked if the money could be used for mass tran- Obama preferred “change.” sit, Daniels responded, “Yeah, I think so.” He said that the Both meant getting away from the Bush league word “infrastructure is too elastic a word” that in the past stuff. But Obama didn’t mean he would change Washington has simply meant roads, bridges and rail. by appointing only people with no Washington experience, Daniels said he was impressed when Obama re- no knowledge of Washington. He is picking people who peated a line he used during his Grant Park victory speech know Washington. That’s good. Thus, Obama will avoid on Nov. 4. “He said ‘I’ll try to listen even if we disagree.’” the mistake of Jimmy Carter. The Georgians Carter brought He also reached out to Republican governors, offering the in to run the administration sure didn’t know Washington. “same kind of friendship” that he would with their Demo- They brought change. They brought incompetence. cratic counterparts. He asked the Republicans to share with The only trouble with running against Washing- the administration things “that work” and to let him know ton is that if elected as president you are Washington. when “regulations get in the way.” You can’t keep running against yourself. You can’t blame “I want the administration to succeed,” Daniels bureaucracy when it’s your bureaucracy. You can’t holler said. “They won the election. I think they are duty-bound about waste in government when it’s your government. to go forward with the plans that they talked about.” v You better name people who know what they’re doing, not folks in on-the-job training who could think HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 9 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

naively that those lobbyists are really nice in guiding the bring. Campaigns are about staking out goals, some attain- decisions, strings attached. able, some approachable, some impossible. If the national desire really was to bring in Some are impossible and almost all are difficult people who didn’t know Washington, voters could have because a president has no power to decree changes. elected John McCain, who offered to bring along somebody Changes in laws, in budgets, in tax policies or in a heartbeat away who didn’t know Washington or much switching an earmark for a $25 million study of anthills in about anything else around the world. suburbia from undeserving Texas to obviously deserving Obama never promised appointees as knowledge- Indiana require congressional approval. able as Joe the plumber. Whether Obama proves to be a great leader, a Bringing in somebody who isn’t part of or familiar total failure or something in between will depend on poli- with the system, even if the system seems broken, isn’t cies he pursues and ability or lack thereof to win approval always Weis. Notre Dame sought change with a coach who for them in Washington, in Congress, in the nation - not on never played or coached college football. whether he changes Washington in some drastic way. Obama is bringing in people who know Washing- There is only one way to bring drastic change to ton. If they didn’t, they would have no hope of finding Washington: Revoke the U.S. Constitution. That document ways to change it for the better. sets up checks and balances and determines what a presi- Change Washington? Really change it? dent can and cannot do within the structure of Washington. Well, candidate Obama was suggesting more None of us, except maybe for former Atty. Gen. Al- change in more ways on more issues than is possible. Mc- berto Gonzales or the satirical Stephen Colbert, really want Cain also suggested more change than any president could to scuttle the Constitution. v

congressional and legislative districts must be constructed Recession questions according to the counts determined by the census as taken each 10 years. By MORTON J. MARCUS Between those benchmark years, the Census INDIANAPOLIS - Last week I had the honor of Bureau does release population estimates that have many addressing the annual conference of Professional Swan uses. For example, we can identify 44 of our 92 counties Callers International – Indiana Chapter (PSCI-In) meet- that gained more than one percent in population from 2000 ing at Lake Monroe. Naturally, they to 2007 and 28 counties that lost at least one percent of had the same concerns as other their people. That left 20 counties with changes between Hoosiers: what should be the priori- plus and minus one percent. ties of President-elect Obama and Of 567 Indiana cities and towns, 29% grew by Governor-re-elect Daniels? more than one percent and twice that amount (58%) I quickly addressed the declined by more than one percent. The remaining 13% obvious: the economy, taxes and gained or lost by less than one percent. Altogether, cities spending, education, health insur- and towns grew by 2.7% while the state’s growth rate was ance, health care, the environment, 4.2%. Indiana’s unincorporated areas grew at 6.9%, the energy, transportation, public safety, same rate as the nation as a whole. cultural chauvinism and college Where cities and towns represented 65.5% of the football playoffs. Then I got to the state’s population in 2000, they captured only 42.7% of the leading neglected task for our new president and our re- state’s growth. In terms of persons to be served, cities and turning governor: the 2010 Census. towns added 108,000 residents while the unincorporated Every 10 years we count ourselves. The census areas of our counties added 145,000 citizens, a difference is the leading source of information about us, an essential 37,000. resource for successful businesses, efficient governments, Are the costs of adding population inside our cities and responsible not-for-profit organizations. But the Con- and towns the same as adding them in unincorporated ar- gress, as ever, has short-changed the Census Bureau and eas? If we could, would we change this pattern of growth? the bureau, as ever, has squandered part of the money Each county had a different experience of they were allocated. To the best of my knowledge, most In- population change in those seven years. In 2000, 82.5% diana governments have not allocated funds nor addressed of Allen County’s residents lived in cities and towns but the issues involved in conducting a successful census. only 1.6% of the county’s population growth was realized The census is the basis of representative democra- by those incorporated areas. The unincorporated areas of cy. If each voter is to have an equal say in government, the the county grew by 16,200 more persons than the cities HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 10 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

and towns gained. Similar dramatic imbalances existed in campaign (and I spent my column last week) touting how Vanderburgh (12,200) and Elkhart (8,800) counties. Indiana has managed its finances so well that it’s one of In all, 71 counties added more residents to their the few states in the country not making big spending cuts unincorporated areas than to their cities and towns. The or raising taxes. But that doesn’t jibe with news last week remaining 21 Indiana counties saw the opposite: more that Daniels acted to borrow up to $330 million from the people choosing cities and towns than the unincorporated federal government - the first time it has had to take such a areas. This pattern of growth was most evident in Hamilton loan in 25 years - so it can make unemployment payments and Hendricks counties. to Hoosiers at least through January. The simple answer is Where people choose to live within a county is that the unemployment trust fund is a separate entity from determined by many factors including water, the fertility of the state budget. Employers pay premiums into the fund the land, taxes, transportation, schools and environmen- so their employees can draw payments from it if they are tal amenities. Where people are allowed to live has been laid off. The problem is that several years ago the General unquestioned during most of our history. But are the times Assembly - when the trust fund had built up a huge balance a’changin’? Will energy costs become a sig- - decided to lower premiums for employers and nificant incentive for living within cities and raise benefits for out-of-work Hoosiers. The towns? result is that revenue into the fund hasn’t kept Without good data, public and pri- up with the payments out of it since then. That vate decisions will be hampered in the next has slowly drained the balance until this year, decade. v when the state’s unemployment rate is rising and there’s just not enough left to pay all the claims. On the other hand, the state’s main Warsaw Gary Gerard, checking account is balanced. The state is ex- Times-Union: U.S. President-elect O is pected to receive enough tax revenue this year acting quite presidential these days, holding to pay all its bills for government operations press conferences, unveiling his team of advisers and detail- - although barely. According to the Center for Budget and ing - kind of - his economic plan. And I’m really starting to Policy Priorities, there are just eight other states that can like some of what he’s saying. He’s starting to sound like a make that claim. But the real answer to the above ques- conservative. In his press conference, he talked about how tion is more complicated. The reason the state budget is he would stimulate the economy to the tune of $800 billion balanced is because Daniels and lawmakers have made or so and how budget cuts would have to be made to help some tough decisions about spending. Unemployment pay for it. Said O, ‘We can’t sustain a system that bleeds benefits have exceeded the premiums paid into the fund by billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that have outlived employers for the past seven years. It’s possible that until their usefulness or exist solely because of the power of recently, no one expected the fund to go broke this year. It’s politicians, lobbyists or interest groups.’ Now that’s what true that the economic downturn has caused many more I’m talking about. That’s what John McCain kept saying layoffs and therefore payouts than expected. But if the during the campaign. Remember? O didn’t say what would problem hadn’t erupted this year, it would have happened be cut from the budget - his team is working on that. But eventually. v budget cutting? Great idea. I love it. My sincere hope is that he really means it and follows through. Some of my liberal friends have this whole “how dare you” attitude toward me Rick Richards, Michigan City News- when I question anything O does. One of them even char- Dispatch: For some of us, the cracks in the health care acterized my concerns as being “pathological.” Another said system can seem like a canyon. Even for those who have a since O hasn’t even taken office yet, I really just need to job and are reasonably well informed, reading a statement chill out. Well, maybe, but they need to tell that to a whole from a hospital or insurance company is like trying to deci- cadre of liberal bloggers and Obamaniacs who are wailing pher hieroglyphics on King Tut’s tomb. Multiply that by the and gnashing their teeth over what they’re seeing so far number of health care corporations and insurance providers from their guy. v who have their own forms and ways of doing things, and you can see why it’s so easy for people to fall through the cracks. It is definitely a system that needs to be fixed. After

Leslie Stedman Weidenbener, all, if the government can force everyone to go out and buy Louisville Courier-Journal: How could Gov. Mitch Daniels a new television set to receive a digital signal in February, claim that Indiana is one of just a handful of states still in then there ought to be someone who can come up with a the black, despite the economic recession, but then ask the universal health care plan that’s simple to understand and federal government for a loan to bail out its unemployment delivers care to the people who need it. v insurance trust fund? Indeed, Daniels spent much of the HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 11 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008

Cheatham (D-North Vernon). Bauer names House PUBLIC HEALTH: Chair: State Rep. Charlie Brown (D-Gary); Vice-Chair: State Rep. (D- committee chairs Bloomington). PUBLIC POLICY: Chair: State Rep. Trent Van INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana House Speaker B. Pat- Haaften (D-Mount Vernon); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Vanessa rick Bauer (D-South Bend) today announced the names of Summers (D-Indianapolis). those representatives who will be leading House commit- ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION: Chair: State tees during the 116th . Rep. (D-Anderson); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Committee chairs and vice-chairs are: Sandy Blanton (D-Orleans). AGRICULTURE AND RURAL RULES AND LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURES: DEVELOPMENT: Chair: State Rep. Phil Chair: State Rep. Phil GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne); Vice- Pflum (D-Milton); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Chair: State Rep. Russ Stilwell (D-Boonville). Joe Pearson (D-Hartford City). SMALL BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOP- COMMERCE, ENERGY, TECH- MENT: Chair: State Rep. (D-Pendleton); Vice- NOLOGY AND UTILITIES: Chair: State Chair: State Rep. (D-Indianapolis). Rep. Win Moses (D-Fort Wayne); Vice- VETERANS AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC SAFETY: Chair: State Rep. (D-Bloom- Chair: State Rep. Vern Tincher (D-Riley); Vice-Chair: State ington). Rep. John Barnes (D-Indianapolis). COURTS AND CRIMINAL CODE: Chair: State WAYS AND MEANS: Chair: State Rep. William Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Crawford (D-Indianapolis); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Scott (D-Knox). Pelath (D-Michigan City); Chair, Budget Subcommittee: EDUCATION: Chair: State Rep. (D- State Rep. Dennis Avery (D-Evansville); Vice-Chair, Budget Indianapolis); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Dennie Oxley (D-Tas- Subcommittee: State Rep. Peggy Welch (D-Bloomington); well). Vice-Chair, Finance and K-12: State Rep. Terry Goodin ELECTIONS AND APPORTIONMENT: Chair: (D-Crothersville); Vice-Chair, Higher Education: State Rep. State Rep. (D-Vincennes); Vice-Chair: State (D-Lafayette); Vice-Chair, Medicaid and Rep. David Niezgodski (D-South Bend). Health: State Rep. Steve Stemler (D-Jeffersonville). ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS: Chair: State Rep. STATUTORY COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE (D-South Bend); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Dan AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION: Chair: State Stevenson (D-Highland). Rep. (D-East Chicago); Vice-Chair: State Rep. FAMILY, CHILDREN AND HUMAN AFFAIRS: (D-Merrillville). Chair: State Rep. (D-Indianapolis); Vice- STATUTORY COMMITTEE ON ETHICS: Chair: Chair: State Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh (D-Crown Point). State Rep. (D-Terre Haute); Vice-Chair: State FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: Chair: State Rep. Rep. Earl Harris (D-East Chicago). v (D-Indianapolis); Vice-Chair: State Rep. (D-Evansville). GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORY REFORM: Chair: State Rep. John Bartlett (D-Indianapolis); Vice-Chair: Contacting State Rep. Dennis Tyler (D-Muncie). INSURANCE: Chair: State Rep. Craig Fry (D-Mish- Howey Politics Indiana awaka); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Ron Herrell (D-Kokomo). Business Office: 317-631-9450 JUDICIARY: Chair: State Rep. Linda Lawson (D- Hammond); Vice-Chair: State Rep. (D-India- Subscription/Passwords: 317-627-6746 napolis). Indianapolis Newsroom: 317-202-0210 LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT: Chair: State Rep. Howey’s Mobile: 317-506-0883 David Niezgodski (D-South Bend); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Washington, DC Bureau: 202-256-5822 Chuck Moseley (D-Portage). Brian Howey: [email protected] LOCAL GOVERNMENT: Chair: State Rep. Vernon Mark Schoeff Jr. [email protected] G. Smith (D-Gary); Vice-Chair: State Rep. Nancy Michael Beverly Phillips [email protected] (D-Greencastle). NATURAL RESOURCES: Chair: State Rep. Bob www.howeypolitics.com Bischoff (D-Lawrenceburg); Vice-Chair: State Rep. David HOWEY Politics Indiana Page 12 Weekly Briefing on Indiana Politics Thursday Dec. 4, 2008 CNN poll shows 61% UAW signals change lot of progress was made Wednesday, but it’s taking more time than expect- oppose Big 3 loan in contracts ed to convert the vote center results DETROIT - United Auto Work- ATLANTA - The CNN/Opinion into precinct tallies. The process is ers President Ron Gettelfinger said to- Research Corp. survey found that 61 expected to conclude today, and the day that the union is willing to change percent are against the loans, while 36 Indiana Recount Commission plans to its contract and will delay billions of percent sup- meet Saturday to give a final ruling on dollars in payments to a union-run port them. the contest. Dozens of people have health care trust in an effort to help The poll also worked at the Tippecanoe County the struggling Detroit Three automak- found 53 Office Building the past three days ers (Associated Press). Gettelfinger percent who reviewing the machine and paper trails also said the union will modify the said they from the Nov. 4 election, when Repub- jobs bank, in which laid-off workers don’t believe lican defeated Democrat are paid up to 95% of their salaries that aiding John Polles by 26 votes. while not working, but he did not give the auto- specifics. “We’re going to sit down and makers would work out the mechanics,” Gettelfinger Hoosier soldiers help the broader economy. said at a news conference after meet- file suit over chemicals ing with local union officials. “We’re a EVANSVILLE - More than five Big 3 making case little unclear on some of the issues.” years after their 2003 deployment on Capitol Hill to the Iraq war, 16 Indiana National WASHINGTON - automak- Fort Wayne rally Guardsmen have filed a federal ers are returning to Congress for lawsuit against a defense contrac- high-stakes hearings they hope will for Big 3 tor, alleging that the company knew FORT WAYNE - More than persuade skeptical lawmakers to the soldiers were being exposed to a 170 autoworkers, retirees, suppliers, save their troubled industry with cancer-causing industrial chemical in dealers and others braved a cold wind $34 billion in emergency aid, but a Iraq but concealed the risk (Evans- Wednesday to show their support for top Senate Democrat wants to hand ville Courier & Press). The suit alleges General Motors Corp. and the two their problem to the Federal Reserve the 16 soldiers, all of whom served other major American automakers as (Associated Press). Two weeks after in a Tell City, Ind., unit, now face a they seek emergency financing from a botched attempt on Capitol Hill, greatly increased risk of respiratory Congress (Fort Wayne Journal Ga- repentant leaders of General Motors cancers, and that some have devel- zette). For an hour, they marched in a Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC oped tumors. The lawsuit was filed circle in front of the Federal Building were appealing to the Senate Bank- Wednesday in U.S. District Court in in Fort Wayne, where U.S. Sen. Evan ing Committee on Thursday with three Indianapolis and will be heard at the Bayh and U.S. Rep. Mark Souder have separate survival plans that include Evansville federal courthouse. Named offices. As they marched, there was massive restructuring, the ditching as the defendant was Houston-based general agreement on two things: If of corporate jets and vows by CEOs KBR Inc., formerly known as Kellogg, GM is forced to file for bankruptcy, it to work for $1 a year. But they could Brown & Root, a global engineering will devastate the local economy, and expect a chilly reception on Capitol contractor. The 16 plaintiffs all were more concessions by the United Auto Hill. Even a top Democrat in charge of members of an Indiana National Guard Workers union are inevitable. “I think evaluating their aid requests made it unit that served in Basra, Iraq, in 2003 everyone will be taking concessions,” clear he was eager to avoid voting on and guarded the Qarmat Ali plant, Holli Murphy said as she shivered on a bailout. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., which injected water into oil wells for the courthouse steps. chairman of the Senate Banking oil production. A yellowish dust was Committee, wrote to Federal Reserve strewn about the plant equipment Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednes- HD26 recount and grounds, but KBR officials told day asking the central bank chief the soldiers guarding the plant it was whether there was anything stopping decision on Saturday only a mild irritant, the suit alleges. him from using his considerable lend- LAFAYETTE The recount of When some soldiers developed severe ing authority to help the automakers. votes in the Indiana House District nosebleeds and skin irritation, KBR of- 26 race will stretch into its fourth day ficials told them it was because of the today (Lafayette Journal & Courier). “dry desert air” and that they must be Recount director Brad Skolnik said a “allergic to sand,” the suit alleges.